Silver’s (Foreshortened) Moment

Despite speculation that the Vito Lopez sexual harassment scandal would force Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver to get booted from his announcer role during last night’s convention roll call, there was Silver, proudly bellowing into the microphone that the “great progressive state of New York” cast all its 384 votes for President Obama.

Several delegates told me Silver got to New York’s designated seating area early to get into his prime announcing position. As the night progressed, a growing number of elected officials and party leaders crowded around the speaker in hopes of getting into the shot when the big moment arrived.

As it turned out, the roll call happened late – it didn’t start until after Bill Clinton’s stemwinder ended well after 11 p.m. – which means it didn’t take place in prime time.

By the time it was New York’s term, it was after midnight. (Ohio, a prominent swing state, got to jump the line and go first, receiving the honor of pushing Obama over the threshold to become the official nominee).

Silver faded in and out during his announcement as he looked down to check his notes.

He recognized the state party chairs, his fellow statewide elected officials – Comptroller Tom DiNapoli and AG Eric Schneiderman – Sens. Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, the congressional delegation and the “finest, most dynamic governor in America today, Governor Andrew Cuomo!”

In the shot were: State Democratic Party Co-Chairs Keith Wright and Stephanie Miner, former Party Chairman Jay Jacobs, Sens. Jose Serrano and Ruth Hassell-Thompson, and Reps. Carolyn Maloney, Yvette Clarke, Paul Tonko, and Eliot Engel (he has a lot of practice, thanks to his State of the Union address antics).

Silver rambled on a bit, striving to mention every area of the state – “from the shores of Lake Erie to the Long Island sound” etc. – so no one would feel left out.

He went on so long that DNC Secretary Alice Germond cut him off at about the 2:30 minute mark, saying: “New York? New York. You have 384 votes, how do you cast them?”